Michael Edson: Ten Patterns for Organizational Change

Ten Patterns for Organizational Change National Museum Publishing Seminar Washington, D.C. June 19, 2010 Michael Edson Director of Web and New Media Strategy Smithsonian Institution

“From law firms to libraries, from universities to Fortune 500 companies, the organization’s website almost invariably falls under the domain of the IT Department or the Marketing Department, leading to turf wars and other predictable consequences. While many good (and highly capable) people work in IT and marketing, neither area is ideally suited to craft usable websites or to encourage the blossoming of vital web communities.” Jeffrey Zeldman Let There be Web Divisions http://www.zeldman.com/2007/07/02/let-there-be-web-divisions/

Preamble Twitter: @mpedson http://slideshare.net/edsonm “I am not an official spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution”

This presentation draws Preamble from these slides/papers (and others!) Twitter: @mpedson http://slideshare.net/edsonm “I am not an official spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution” http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/ http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/go http://www.slideshare.net/edson michael-edson-brown-university- od-projects-gone-bad-an- m/good-projects-gone-bad-an- digital-strategy-thermocline introduction-to-process-maturity- introduction-to-process-maturity 1384375

This one too! Preamble Twitter: @mpedson http://slideshare.net/edsonm Technology, New Media, and Museums: Who’s in Charge? “I am not an official spokesperson (from AAM 2008 annual conference) for the Smithsonian Institution” Text notes: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/aam2009-session-intro-and-notes-who-is-in-charge-v2 PowerPoint: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/new-media-technology-and-museums

Premise of this presentation Premise: a) You work in--or have a stake in--museum publishing b) Your model of … has been disrupted by digital media c) You’re interested in--or are struggling with-- how you, your department, or your museum should change because of (b).

“Patterns” can help

“Patterns” can help The seminal patterns in architecture/urban design book.

“Patterns” can help

Software patterns… “Patterns” can help

“Patterns” can help Once you see a pattern and have a name for it you can start to communicate about it… ...and hack it.

“Patterns” can help This presentation describes ten patterns I’ve found over the last 15 years of trying to figure out how to deal with organizational change.

“Patterns” can help This presentation describes ten patterns I’ve found over the last 15 years of trying to figure out how to deal with organizational change. I hope they help!!!

Pattern 1: ICE is real

Pattern 1: ICE is real “ICE” = Internet Changes Everything

Pattern 1: ICE is real “ICE” = Internet Changes Everything • ~2 billion Internet users • ~4 billion mobile phone subscribers

“Everything we hear from people we interview is that today’s consumers draw no distinctions between an organization’s Web site and their traditional bricks-and-mortar presence: both must be excellent for either to be excellent.” Lee Rainie Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project

“Twenty years from now we’ll look back and say this was the embryonic period. The Web is only going to get more revolutionary” --Tim Berners-Lee, 2006

Pattern 2: Urgency

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency Harvard Business School

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency Harvard Business School 40+ years of studying change

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency Over 70% of all change initiatives fail.

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency The 30% that succeed share a single characteristic…

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency A sense of Urgency

Pattern 2: Urgency John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency Harvard Business Review “Ideacast” with John Kotter http://blogs.bnet.com/intercom/?p=1869 A Sense of Urgency (via Google Books) http://books.google.com/books?id=xCAD8ashi_UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+kotter+sense+of+urgency&source=bl&ots =WXQnhRPxhb&sig=dkqctdFuUhfG5OUD7Gzl4oihmUU&hl=en&ei=j1EfTPLJLMH- 8Ab0uajCDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false A Sense of Urgency (via Amazon) http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Urgency-John-P- Kotter/dp/1422179710

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation • Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator’s Dilemma

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation • Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator’s Dilemma (Via Amazon) http://www.amazon.com/Inno vators-Dilemma- Revolutionary-Business- Essentials/dp/0060521996

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation • Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator’s Dilemma Sears was at the top if the world in the 1960’s

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation • Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator’s Dilemma Sears was at the top if the world in the 1960’s They missed discount retailing.

Pattern 3: Disruptive Innovation “You’ve got about three years until you’re locked into being just a museum of stuff on the mall” Executive from a national media/educational brand, about the Smithsonian’s digital strategy

Pattern 4: Strategy Makes a Difference

In today’s environment, where you could be doing almost anything, You need strategy to help you prioritize tactical opportunities (or sense an opportunity that is beyond their grasp.)

Strategy is a tool that “does work” (or sense an opportunity that is beyond their grasp.)

“Most organizations don’t get serious about strategy until they are afraid or in pain” (or sense an opportunity that is beyond their grasp.) CEO Leo Mullen, Navigation Arts

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

The strategy talks about an updated digital experience, a new learning model that helps people with their "lifelong learning journeys," and the creation of a Smithsonian Commons— a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities. http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

The strategy talks about an updated digital experience, a new learning model that helps people with their "lifelong learning journeys," and the creation of a Smithsonian Commons— a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities. Old Learning Model New Learning Model http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

Balancing autonomy and control within the Smithsonian.rt of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities. http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

…and the creation of a Smithsonian Commons—a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities. http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

Smithsonian Web & New Media Strategy Structure • Three Themes – Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience – Update the Smithsonian Learning Model – Balance Autonomy and Control within SI • Eight Goals External Internal Mission Interpretation Brand Technology Learning Business Model Audience Governance Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/

Web & New Media Strategy Structure • Three Themes – Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience – Update the Smithsonian Learning Model we This gives us a language – Balance Autonomy and Control within SI our can use to understand work, what’s important, and • Eight Goals External change will look like. what Internal Mission Interpretation Brand Technology Learning Business Model Audience Governance Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

Pattern 5: thermocline issues

Thermocline (a metaphor) Stratified water temperature acts as a barrier

Thermocline (a metaphor) Knowledge, communication, action models are different Warm light water Cold dense water

Thermocline (a metaphor) Knowledge, communication, action models are different Management Practitioners

Thermocline (a metaphor) Messages get distorted, lost

Thermocline Issues Focus on Catalyze innovation/ innovation/ discovery discovery outside the institution inside the Institution Joy’s Law: no matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else

Thermocline Issues Provide services Every user is a to passive audiences hero In their own epic journey

Thermocline Issues The Web is a fundamentally new way of getting things done The Web is a bigger megaphone

Thermocline Issues “we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organization …Getting the free and ready participation of a large, distributed group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible to simple.” Clay Shirky

Thermocline Issues The most interesting You can manage ecosystems are technology and content in “border habitats” separately between the two

Thermocline Issues More in… And… http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/ michael-edson-brown-university- digital-strategy-thermocline http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/ michael-edson-prototyping-the- smithsonian-commons

Pattern 6: You’re not alone

Pattern 6: You’re not alone I’ve talked to dozens of museums, businesses, and government agencies in the last year, and they’re all feeling tension around these issues.

Pattern 6: You’re not alone I’ve talked to dozens of museums, businesses, and government agencies in the last year, and they’re all feeling tension around these issues. Just in the last few months I’ve sensed a greater sense of urgency around these issues— “we’re playing for keeps now.”

Pattern 7: You get what you practice

Pattern 7: You get what you practice • If you tell me you’re training for the Boston Marathon, and I come over to your house, I expect to see sweat socks and running shoes in your hallway and pasta in the fridge. • Is your executive team working hard enough? Do you see the tangible evidence (meetings, hires, spending, focus) that this is important to your organization? • By the time you need to be good at this, it’s too late to start training. • Gladwell’s “10,000 hours”

Pattern 8: Process Maturity

Pattern 8: Process Maturity • Evolutionary roadmaps for getting from point A to point B • Originally developed to help organizations figure out what kinds of things they would be capable of doing in the future • Five plateaus…

Capability Maturity Model 1. Initial – Processes, if they are defined at all, are ad hoc. Successes depend on individual heroics and are generally not repeatable. 2. Managed – Basic project management practices are established and the discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes with similar projects. 3. Defined – Processes are documented and standardized and all projects use approved, tailored versions of the standard processes. 4. Quantitatively Managed – The performance of processes and the quality of end-products are managed with quantitative measurement and analysis. 5. Optimizing – Continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting innovative ideas.

Capability Maturity Model 5. Optimizing 4. Quantitatively Managed 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Processes Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Success depends on Processes individual heroics Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People “Fire fighting” Processes is a way of life Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Relationships between Processes disciplines are Measurement uncoordinated, Technology perhaps even adversarial

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Success depends on individuals Processes Commitments are understood Measurement and managed Technology People are trained

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Project groups work together, Processes perhaps as an integrated team Measurement Training is planned and provided Technology according to roles

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Strong sense of teamwork Processes exists within each project Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Strong sense of teamwork Processes exists across the organization Measurement Everyone is involved in Technology process improvement

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Processes Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Few stable processes exist or are used Processes “Just do it!” Measurement Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People At the individual project level, documented and stable Processes estimating, planning and commitment processes are used Measurement Problems are recognized and Technology corrected as they occur

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Integrated management and engineering processes Processes (how things get built) are used across the Measurement organization Technology Problems are anticipated and prevented, or their impacts are minimized

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Processes are quantitatively understood and stabilized Processes Sources of individual problems are Measurement understood and eliminated Technology

Understanding the levels 1 2 3 4 5 People Processes are continuously and systematically improved Processes Common sources of problems are Measurement understood and eliminated Technology

I’ve seen most organizations follow this basic path as they mature/evolve their Web and New Media management processes and structure.

1. Ad Hoc (chaotic) • web program owned by arbitrary stakeholders • Underground, success (but not repeatable) • Nothing measured • Dependent on heroics

2. Managed (Emerging) • Web program owned by separate workgroup, still small, position & importance in organization uncertain (special interest hobby shop, everyone knows it is important but not sure to what degree or how it works). • Some measurement, explicit responsibility to somebody, usually lower in the org chart

3. Defined: authority vested in some semi-logical entity. • Director level awareness of web importance, uncertainty over purpose of web & org. placement leads to internal power struggle, debate over "who owns", multiple reorgs. • Mostly based on competence and/or willingness, without regard to org chart rationale. • Lots of matrix and dotted-lines • Corsely visible in budgets, PD’s, planning, measurement

4. Quantitatively Managed • Professionalization of web, greater awareness of role and key stakeholders, integral part of organization. • Formal organization, oversight. Usually in the Director’s office to someone without specific background • Increasing cross-disciplinary expertise/experience: the team is familiar and broadly competent with each others areas of expertise.

5. Optimizing • There’s Formal ownership in the executive suite • Directors engaged (look at their appointment book) • Professional, full-time management • Win/win scenarios with controlled innovation and experimentation

Using the model

Capability Maturity Model Figure out 5. Optimizing where you are? 4. Quantitatively Managed 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Capability Maturity Model 5. Optimizing Ratchet up gradually 4. Quantitatively Managed over time 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Capability Maturity Model Don’t skip steps 5. Optimizing 4. Quantitatively Managed 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Capability Maturity Model 5. Optimizing Don’t slip back! 4. Quantitatively Managed 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Capability Maturity Model Pick projects Appropriate 5. Optimizing For your level 4. Quantitatively Managed 3. Defined 2. Managed 1. Initial

Capability Maturity Model More in… http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/go http://www.slideshare.net/edson od-projects-gone-bad-an- m/good-projects-gone-bad-an- introduction-to-process-maturity- introduction-to-process-maturity 1384375

Pattern 9: blowing it off

Pattern 9: blowing it off • It seems quite acceptable to blow off making decisions and moving forward…

This was four years ago!

"There's no one in the record company that's a technologist," Morris explains. "That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?” "We didn't know who to hire," he says, becoming more agitated. "I wouldn't be able to recognize a good technology person — anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me." From a Wired Magazine interview with Doug Morris, Chair and CEO of Universal Music Group http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/ magazine/15-12/mf_morris

"There's no one in the record company that's a technologist," Morris explains. "That's a misconception writers make all about might explain a few things is the where thethat business This time, music the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just today… didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?” "We didn't know who to hire," he says, becoming more agitated. "I wouldn't be able to recognize a good technology person — anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me." From a Wired Magazine interview with Doug Morris, Chair and CEO of Universal Music Group http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/ magazine/15-12/mf_morris

Smithsonian Relevance? Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009) Enchantedlearning.com si.edu discoveryeducation.com ocean.com

Smithsonian Relevance? Brand Identity Brandtags.net We are the 560th of 928 brands

Smithsonian Relevance? More in… “Imagining the Smithsonian Commons” http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil- 2009-michael-edson-text-version

Pattern 10: Any model can work

The Road to Success Efficient-Development Town YOU ARE HERE Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Efficient-Development Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Efficient-Development Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Efficient-Development Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Efficient-Development Town Sometimes-Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town Efficient-Development Town Sometimes-Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Specialization… Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town Efficient-Development Town Sometimes-Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success Most organizations are here… Specialization… Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town Efficient-Development Town Sometimes-Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

The Road to Success To get here, use any effective practice Specialization… whatsoever… BUT USE IT! Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town Efficient-Development Town Sometimes-Predictable-Cost-and-Schedule Town High-Cost/Long-Schedule Town Classic-Mistakes Town Reference: McConnell, Steve Rapid Development, Taming Wild Software Schedules. Microsoft Press, 1996

Success could look like this (?) The Smithsonian Commons Prototype http://www.si.edu/commons/prototype

Thank You! Michael Edson Director of Web and New Media Strategy Smithsonian Institution

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Michael Edson: Ten Patterns for Organizational Change

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